CSO figures show increase in assaults in Louth Garda Division

There was almost a 16% increase in the number of attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the 12 months up to the second quarter (Q2) of this year, according to figures released this week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

774 attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences were recorded in Louth in the year up to Q2 2022, up from 668 the year before according to the CSO release, Recorded Crime Q3 2022, a rise of 15.9% on the previous year.

Looking at the figures in more detail, assault causing harm, poisoning offences increased from 181 offences recorded in the year to Q2 2021, to 208 in the year to Q2 2022, an increase of 14.9%

Harassment and related offences increased from 54 to 61 in the same period, an increase of 13%, and other assault offences increased from 367 in the 12 months to Q2 2021 to 424 in the year to Q2 2022, a rise of 15.5%.

There was also four murder attempt offences recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the year to Q2 2022, with none recorded in the previous 12 months.

It is important to note that these statistics are categorised as Under Reservation by the CSO. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO. 

The classification statistics Under Reservation has been applied to reflect the fact that there are data quality issues in the underlying sources used to compile these statistics. This approach of differentiating statistics based on quality concerns associated with the underlying data is consistent with other jurisdictions such as England and Wales. 

In the case of Recorded Crime statistics, the new classification will actively alert users to the underlying quality deficiencies and inform them that further revisions can be expected as these deficiencies are resolved.  

 The decision to publish using the statistics Under Reservation category reflects concerns the CSO has around the completeness and accuracy of PULSE data. Data published under this category will provide users with the best information available while clearly identifying the quality issues and flagging where revisions are likely.